Shadow Complex Achievement Guide
Started: 24/08/09
By LiamMcLuckie
Contents:
I Introduction
II Achievements
III Master Challenges
IV Email
V Legal
VI Credits and ending
I. Introduction
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Hey, let's get started, shall we? Shadow Complex is an awesome Xbox
Live Arcade game by Epic Games and Chair, mixing elements from side-
scrolling games (heavily influenced by games like Super Metroid) and
modern shooters (uhh... Gears). There are 12 achievements for a total
of 200 Gamerscore. This guide also covers the Master Challenges, too,
which are similar to achievements but do not unlock Gamerscore. While
I haven't written full guides for the Master Challenges, there's
quite a lot of helpful information here to use in conjunction with
the awesome Master Challenge guides on www.gamefaqs.com (with the
exception of Status Update: Single). Without further ado...
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WARNING: slight spoilers, probably...
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II. Achievements
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1. Let's Get Punchy
Melee 5 soldiers
15G
Alright, each time you approach a soldier, press the B button to
perform a cinematic attack sequence. Do this 5 times for an easy
achievement. Simple. If you're starting out on a higher difficulty,
it may be an easier tactic to stealthily approach them from behind.
2. Bomba Punter
Punt 20 Bombas
20G
Again, this is another easy achievement. Just go up to bombas (the
little robots crawling on walls and ceilings) and press the B button
to punt them. Punting is basically a kick, which sends the poor thing
flying. Repeat this until you get the achievement. You can also shoot
them and punt them before they explode on the floor. This achievement
is easiest to obtain on Casual difficulty, as on higher difficulties
the bombas explode quicker, giving you less time to punt them.
3. My Head A-splode
Get 50 headshots
20G
Aim for the head, need I say more? Try not to use any other weapons
but your gun and you should get this very quickly. This will get
easier as you level up and gain accuracy and precision. Accuracy
decreases the spread of gunfire, whereas precision increases the
chance of a headshot. Needless to say, kill every soldier you come
across until you unlock it. Oh, and don't use the Inertial Element,
it really isn't too good for getting headshots with.
4. Make 'Em Scream
Get 100 soldiers to scream
20G
This one is easy but takes quite a while. Just use grenades instead
of shooting and you should be able to get this easy. This will make
most of the soldiers you kill scream out loud. You need to make 100
of them to scream, so it may take some time. Also look out for
barrels, which explode when you shoot them. This will most likely get
you a few screams, and it's quite entertaining to watch.
5. To Kill a Blackbird
Destroy the helicopter attacking the vice president
15G
This will be the first achievement you get for Shadow Complex most
likely. As soon as you begin the campaign, you will fight a few
soldiers on the street and then the helicopter will fly up the street
towards you. You can't miss it, seriously. It'll go down without too
much trouble, even on Insane difficulty. Just shoot it for a while
and ignore any other enemies until you take it down. Alternatively,
you can also use missiles, which are very effective. The name of this
achievement, I'm sure, is a play on the book "To kill a mockingbird".
6. Look Out!
Kill a soldier with a Bomba
5G
Any time you see a soldier and a bomba next to each other, shoot the
bomba so it explodes and kills the soldier next to it. Another method
to get this achievement is to punt a bomba (press the B button) into
a soldier, exploding in his face and getting you the achievement.
Again, the latter method is best done on Casual to allow time to
punt. An ideal time to do this is at the beginning of the game, just
before obtaining the grenades. After swimming across the small body
of water, shoot the bomba and climb up the ladder. Proceed past the
barrels to another bomba. Shoot it then climb the ladders. At the top
is a solider and a bomba on the wall behind him. Shoot the bomba and
it should kill the solider.
7. Walkin' on Water
Make it from one end of the lake to the other in hyperspeed
5G
An odd achievement, this, but I think it's pretty cool. Ok, once
you're far enough into the campaign to obtain the friction dampener,
head back to the lake (where the helicopter attacked you, there's a
cabin in the middle of it). Starting from the left side, hold the X
button and run until you are in hyperspeed. You should run over the
water. Simply press the A button once just before you get to the
house and you should jump onto the logs and over the cabin. It
unlocked for me when I reached land on the other side.
Thanks to fonz3333, who also contributed this: "Jump on the logs when
you get near the house. As long as you are in hyperspeed you can run
up and over the house and make it to the other side of the lake."
8. Hero
Complete the game on any difficulty setting
50G
All you have to do for this one is complete the game. If you're not
going for any other achievements in this playthough, play on Casual
difficulty, collect as many items as you can and try to level up as
often as possible. This should make it much easier as you'll be
dealing much more damage and taking less. Shouldn't be a problem,
really, just play the game and if you get stuck, ask on the board or
consult a guide if one gets written (don't look a me, man!). Kind of
disappointing that there was no Insane achievement, it would've given
me incentive to do a full Insane playthough. Oh well...
9. Completionist
Complete the game with 100 of the items
20G
This one is time consuming, and best done on a new game+. Firstly,
get yourself to level 20. This unlocks the entire map and shows the
location of every item. Also take note, there are items in save
rooms, which are disguised on the map because of the save icon.
Similarly, in the room with the mask, there is an item that will not
appear on the map once you obtain the SCHCA Mask (since it thinks you
have the item). Be aware that when playing on Insane difficulty, even
at level 20 there are no question marks on the map. Oh, and for the
love of God don't miss the Inertial Element or you're screwed. Here's
a little checklist for you in your quest for 100%.
Items:
-Health upgrades (8)
-Armour upgrades (10)
-Grenade packs (30)
-Foam packs (20)
-Missile packs (20)
-Gold bars (12)
-Passkeys (12)
You can check your item percentage on the map screen (the Back
button). The above list can be accessed in game by pressing the Back
button then hitting the left bumper (LB). It will also tell you how
many of the items you have, for example, 6/8 Health upgrades.
Equipment:
-Flashlight
-Climbing Gear
-CLD Thrust Pack
-SCHCA Mask
-Omega Armour XOS-7
-Friction Dampener
-Hook
-Thrust Boots
-Fusion Helmet (requires 12 passkeys)
Weapons:
-WSP40 Pistol
-WSMP50 Compact
-WSM400A1 Carbine
-WSAR60 Coil Rifle
-Inertial Element* (DO NOT MISS IT! FOLLOW THE BLUE LINE!)
*If you're in a dome room and a cutscene triggers with this guy on a
screen then everything starts exploding, reload your save, you've
gone too far. The Inertial Element is just north of that room; you
should be able to find it easily using the map.
10. Minimalist
Complete the game with less than 13% of items
10G
It is highly recommended to be at least level 30 for this
achievement. This will give you infinite Foam, allowing you to access
virtually everywhere without the need of thrust/hook items. Obviously
very useful if you wish to miss these items and instead pick up
health packs or whatnot. I found myself stuck in my first Minimalist
playthough without infinite foam, and had to restart my game, level
up to 30 then restart another Minimalist run.
The items you generally need to collect to finish the game are the
Flashlight, Climbing Gear, Grenades, Mask, CLD Thrust Pack, Foam,
Omega Suit XOS-7, Friction Dampener, and Missiles. You can, however,
miss some of these items depending on what type of playthrough you
do. There is also one gold bar you are forced to collect during
hyperspeed. Aside from these necessary items, do not collect anything
else. Since you are limited to what items and equipment you use, the
game will obviously be more difficult so I suggest playing on Casual
difficulty.
One awesome thing you can do is find and collect all 12 Gold Bars to
unlock a room with a golden version of every single weapon. These
weapons can be used without adding to the percentage of items you
have (unlike the normal versions, which add to the percentage). Also
please note that although the achievement description says "less than
13%", I believe you can finish with 13% and still get the
achievement. 14% or higher and it will not unlock.
The way I used was slightly different and involved sequence breaking,
taking little over 50 minutes (and I was slow). It involves using a
secret hatch shortly after the first boss battle to access the foam
early. With infinite foam, a missile pack is accessible and from
there you can beat the game prematurely. I will not go into further
detail, but there's a 3-part video demonstration here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIs3JaMwTvI
Note that THIS IS NOT MY VIDEO and I DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR IT.
It's just very useful for this achievement.
11. Proven Grounds
Complete the three challenge packs in the Proving Grounds
10G
Ok, this one is a little hard and a little time consuming. Select
Campaign and then Proving Grounds. You then get four menus:
Tutorials, Challenge Pack 1, Challenge Pack 2 and Challenge Pack 3.
You have to complete every single challenge in every single pack.
There are 7 challenges in each Challenge Pack, for a total of 21
challenges you need to complete. Note that you do not need to pass
the challenges with a certain medal (platinum or gold, for instance),
only complete the challenge itself. I got the achievement with
bronze, silver, gold and platinum medals, so you do not need to
achieve a certain medal for the achievement.
12. Serious Complex
Level up to experience level 50
10G
This is another time consuming achievement. Jeez! You get more
experience the higher the difficulty you are playing, so go on
insane, preferably on a new game+. Doing different things earns you
different amounts of exp:
Small amount - Killing enemies
Medium amount - Exploring the map (each new square you explore)
Large amount - Picking up an item or upgrade, defeating a boss
I'll also include this grinding strategy from Methionine:
"When you trigger the boss after you get the first grenade pack at
the beginning of the game, point at him while he comes to the
foreground and plaster him with Inertial Element blasts and grenades,
you will get him to about 50% before he even attacks, when he starts
making the noise that he's gonna rush you run back to grenade room
while still firing on him, he should be about 35% at this point when
he retreats and breaks the pipes, as soon as that little cut scene
ends throw a grenade and kill him. This whole process, from menu to
menu takes about 10 minutes. There are probably better exp spots,
it's just one I found and its right at the start, and you can
practice getting to the secret room while you do it. It's about 25%-
30% exp per run. It helps to be level 40 for infinite grenades but,
as this is a method of levelling up, you most likely aren't at level
40 yet."
I encountered a small glitch when using this method where upon using
a grenade to defeat the boss, the screen permanently zoomed in on it
after the explosion. I reloaded the save and the same thing happened
again. Third time, I just shot instead of using a grenade and the
glitch didn't happen. Be wary of this. Also I found that it was
easier to begin on Casual then swap to Insane as soon as you control
Jason. Be sure to maximise the experience you get by killing every
enemy you see and exploring every possible square on the map on your
way to the boss. After two or three repeats of this method, you
should get familiar with everything.
And this strategy from III S4mur4i III:
"Okay I found a great spot for grinding. You can do this as long as
you have friction dampeners cause you have to be fast. The whole
premise of this grind is to beat down all or most of the enemies (for
the multiplier) and finish off with a big enemy for massive points.
You start at the tower on the top middle of the map were one of the
passkeys is located. There is one enemy located next to the passkey
building and one on top of the tower to the left of the passkey
building. Beat down both of these guys and continue on to the left
jumping from the tower to the next on. Beat this guy down and
continue left. Now after you kill this third guy there are 2 guys
directly after him. One you will definitely be able to beat down. The
other you might be able to, but most times he is to far in the back
so I usually leave him alone or just shoot him. At this point
continue left. You absolutely must start sprinting at this point in
order to maintain the multiplier, which should be either x6 or x7.
Sprint to the left and down the mountain. I suggest jumping to so you
can kill the next guy (a big chain gun guy easier). If you ran fast
enough you should still have the multiplier and is at x8 or x9 (since
big guys give x2 multipliers). Continue to the left, shoot this next
guy because he usually isn't in a spot to be beaten down, jump on the
platform after him, beat this guy down and then its just one enemy
left with a multiplier at either x9 or x10. This enemy is one of
those walker things that has a big health bar, machine gun, and
missiles. I recommend just unloading on him with the Inertial Element
and missiles. If done correctly (and on Insane difficulty) your XP
bar should shoot up at least half way if not more. In a matter of 30
minutes or so I went up 4 or 5 levels."
All in all, I prefer the first method for levels 40-50 because it's
less repetitive and gives greater exp. Aside from the grinding
strategies, collect all 12 Gold Bars to unlock a room with a golden
version of every single weapon. These weapons provide an experience
boost so obviously they'll come in handy for levelling up to level
50.
Dedeagle expands on the second strategy:
"Hey there, dedeagle here. Adding a little to the grinding bit that
III S4mur4i III gave you. You can add a multiplier in there towards
the end before you kill the devastator. After you melee the dude on
the platform by the devastator, jump past it immediately and run down
the ledge on the left. If you're fast enough, you'll come across a
chain-gun soldier. Melee him, then run back and immediately destroy
the devastator for the XP. An easy way to destroy the devastator is
getting behind it and shooting it in the ass with a rocket or the
inertial element. ALSO, when you're done with that, you can go right
back up the mountain on the right, and all the enemies melee'd at the
beginning will have respawned, so there's no need to reload the save
point, which will definitely make the grinding process quicker,
somewhat. Once you've melee'd the enemies again, and go back down
the mountain, all the enemies at the bottom, including the devastator
will have respawned as well, creating a nice cycle of enemies from
which to assist in levelling up!"
Doing certain things (melee attacks, for instance) raise your exp
multiplier, and you can chain together attacks to get a higher
multiplier for more exp. Be careful though, it quickly goes back to
x1 so you have to act fast. Here's a complete list of things that
raise the exp multiplier:
-Headshots
-Melee attacks
-Defeating a boss by attacking its weak point
-Killing enemies with exploding barrels or bombas
Note that the golden guns don't give you a constant multiplier but
when you do start a combo, it'll start at x3 instead of x2.
III. Master Challenges
----------------------
Master Challenges are like achievements in Shadow Complex, except
they are much more challenging and reward no Gamerscore. There are
four Master Challengers to complete. There are some excellent Master
Challenge FAQs on www.gamefaqs.com, so look those up, as this section
isn't intended to be a guide. Before you start them, here are some
recommended requirements for all challenges (except Status Update:
Single):
-Level 50 (for the complete map and infinite grenades/foam/missiles)
-Golden Guns (can't complete The Insurgent without them)
-Knowledge of the map and sequence breaking
Ok, with that out of the way, here's the Master Challenges:
1. Jason Bailey
Complete the game at 100% in under 2 hours on any difficulty.
The name is a Metroid reference (that I missed, I didn't play the
original that much). Well, for this one I suggest you play on Casual
difficulty throughout. You'll need to do some sequence breaking for
this one, too.
2. ChAIRness
Complete the game at 100% in under 3 hours on insane.
Well this sounds lovely, doesn't it? This is probably the hardest
Master Challenge, but by no means is it impossible. The name is a
reference to Chair, the developers of the game. The game must be
completed on Insane difficulty throughout, which means no switching
between difficulties at any point; you must begin on Insane and
finish on Insane (and be on Insane in the middle, too!). Keep in mind
that even at level 20 and above, you will not be able to see the item
locations on the map on Insane difficulty.
You need 100% of items, too, which means not missing out on anything
whatsoever. Not even the Inertial Element... It goes without saying
that the higher level you are, the better. One thing you must avoid
at all costs is to obtain the missiles early (getting the first
missile pack early is fine, but you need to make sure you pick that
one up first). Doing so will make it impossible to obtain the first
missile pack, therefore preventing you from getting 100%.
3. The Insurgent
Complete the game at 4% with only the Flashlight, Backpack, Grenade,
Foam and Missile.
To complete this Master Challenge, you must collect the Flashlight
and Backpack (Climbing Gear) at the beginning of the game, then a
golden gun. You must then get the grenades and sequence break through
the secret hatch to get the Foam early. You then use infinite foam to
reach a missile pack early, and then trigger the events for the final
boss. During this process, you must not collect any items other than
the mentioned ones whatsoever, or you will not be able to complete
the Challenge. There are some good Insurgent runs on YouTube to guide
you through, and of course the guide on gamefaqs.
4. Status Update: Single
Complete the game by abandoning Claire to her fate.
After completing this "challenge" myself, I can say that it isn't at
all hard. You're able to get it as soon as you obtain the gun right
in the room right above the golden gun room (or skip the gun,
whatever). The current objective should be "Start making your way
BACK to Claire". Just travel the way you came (at the beginning of
the game) and you should pass through the rocks (where you got the
climbing gear) and end up in the open. The jeep (located in the exact
square you started the game) is at the top, so jump up and press B to
complete the challenge.
I got this from Nemesis_489:
Hello, just giving confirmation on the 'Status Update: Single' Master
Achievement, it's been said you can trigger it at any time after
getting the backpack or seeing Claire taken away, but you obviously
can't get back to the car so fast, so you do have to do some
exploring to get the items needed for the escape.
This achievement can easily be paired with The Insurgent master
achievement, of course I beat the game normally first, this "ending"
is a 'joke' and doesn't count as beating the game, also to actually
get in the car you need to press B in front of it, all but one video
strategy failed to note this.
And from HarbingerRyu:
I just wanted to note that probably the earliest time for most people
to head back to the Jeep is actually either before or just after the
cut-scene where Claire is loaded into the helicopter, the cut-scene
where you fight the Devastator immediately afterward. From the left-
most save-room on that same level, you can jump the gap to a small
ledge below the lip of the cliff, which you can grab to pull yourself
up. It will likely take most people more than one try to get the
timing of the jump right, but since it's right outside the save room,
it's not a big deal, in my opinion.
You will have a to do a bit of fighting, as there is a shield-
wielding, missile-firing enemy standing at the edge of the cliff, but
with a bit of skill and a bit of luck, you can grenade him from below
the lip of the cliff. It's also possible to jump over him, but that's
pretty risky, especially with low health. There are a few more
regular enemies after that, but after him, it's pretty much a
straight shot back to the Jeep, with one or two more gaps to jump, if
I recall correctly. The only real drawback is that heading back here
and getting the master challenge achievement starts you right back at
the Jeep when you reload, meaning you will have to make your way back
through the complex to the helipad area to continue the game.
IV. Email
---------
Hey, if you have anything to contribute, or you want to compliment my
guide, or harass me with insults, here's my email:
liammcluckie AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk
Be sure to include a name so I can credit you!
Although I really appreciate any emails I get, please try and stick
to the following rules. Try and make sure the emails are in English,
stick to the subject of the game, are not spam, not irrelevant or
pointless, and please, please, please use proper spelling and
grammar. Any messages that do not follow these rules will be deleted
immediately. Otherwise, I am welcome to all suggestions, questions,
corrections and contributions! Oh, and please check my guide for
answers before you message me, as the answers you seek may already be
here. Also note that, although I regularly check my email, I may not
be able to reply for some time. Thanks for all the contributions
everyone, you guys have been great.
V. Legal
--------
This guide is copyright 2009 Liam McLuckie. This may not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal private use.
It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission from myself, Liam
McLuckie. Use of this guide on any other web site, or as a part of
any public display, is strictly prohibited, and a violation of
copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document
are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.
The sites that can currently host this guide are:
www.gamefaqs.com
www.gamespot.com
www.supercheats.com
www.neoseeker.com
VI. Credits and thank yous
--------------------------
You, dear reader, I value any and all of my readers and I hope that I
helped you guys out, you're who I'm writing for, man! Thank you for
reading!
Epic Games, and ChAIR, for creating this awesome game.
GameFAQs, (CjayC and SBAllen too) for being an awesome site that I
can come to for virtually any game and contribute to. I love you!
PirateKingflcl for his awesome sticky thread.
Stevolution and OmegaXzero for simultaneously making me feel like an
idiot and contributing item lists for the Completionist achievement.
Methionine and III S4mur4i III for the experience grinding
strategies.
Tobias_Is_Queen, Carnage_976 and Jhantaxx for the names of the
weapons (for the Completionist achievement.
Nemesis_489 and HarbingerRyu, for the Status Update: Single Master
Challenge info.
BYON Gootch, DrunkMog, friskmahnutz, Pooont, random guy named Joe and
Heffenfeffer for info regarding the Jason Bailey Master Challenge.
JD Fedule for info regarding the exp multiplier.
ElBarto2003 for info about levelling and stamina/precision/accuracy.
Dedeagle for expanding on a level grinding strategy.
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